I seem to have a problem at the net on an approaching shot. I cannot seem to place it in the right direction as I would like to.

I am 15 and play almost every day. Plz help!

It’s tough to say why you miss because I can’t see you play.

Some reasons may be:

1. You hit too hard
2. You may rotate your body too much and again focus on power instead on accuracy
3. You may worry too much about the outcome or your opponent passing you and you’re not focused on the approach shot

Let me know if any of these sound true!

I think that the problem may, indeed, be attributed to the third mistake: I worry to much about the outcome of the passing shot that my opponent may play when I play the approaching shot. (more…)

by Alexander Claussen

You and your opponent just walked out on the court. You warm-up, and the match starts. You start off the match with an error in the net, and a “C’mon, right here,” rings in your ears. You let it go. Next point, your opponent says loudly the same phrase just as you begin your ball toss. You double-fault.

It is one thing if your opponent is trying to pump himself up, but I don’t think this is the case. During the many years of my playing of tennis, I have encountered players whose strategies heavily rely on this concept, gamesmanship (and cheating too).

And of all the cases I have encountered, it wasn’t the actual acts of gamesmanship that won the match, but the overreaction of the victim player.

If you are an active player, you’ve probably experienced players like this many times. Whether it’s stalling, questioning every line call, or like the example presented above, we all need to learn how to handle gamesmanship that leads to on-court meltdowns and ultimately the match.

(more…)